A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm.
For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra.
DO YOU HAVE A WATER CONTINGENCY PLAN?
In 2017, Ontario has seen a lot of rain, leading to saturated soils and flooding. Periods of extreme weather and water conditions may become more common.
There are many resources, including publications from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs that can help farmers manage water during low or excessive situations at Ontario.ca:
- – Environmental Farm Plan Infosheet #13: Water Efficiency;
- – OMAFRA’s drainage resources;
- – Publications in the Best Management Practices Series: Water Management; Irrigation Management; Soil Erosion by Water and other soil health publications; and Cropland Drainage;
- – Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association’s Low Water Conditions worksheet in the Environmental Farm Plan Emergency Plan (ontariosoilcrop.org/oscia-programs/workshops-webinars/environmental-farm-plan/efp-emergency-plan);
- – Adverse Weather, Low Water and Irrigation web pages have resources for water conservation, creating water storages, using irrigation systems and adapting to extreme weather and water conditions; and
- – The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s “Managing tour water well in times of water shortage” website.
Contingency planning is an important way to plan for the future. OMAFRA encourages farmers to create water management contingency plans for their operations to be ready for whatever the future brings. Plans can outline:
- – how much water is needed for the operation;
- – alternative water sources when wells and reservoirs; run dry, including water haulers and well drillers;
- – other feed sources for livestock and poultry;
- – drainage options
- – what to do with livestock if there’s flooding; and
- – how to handle flooding in farm buildings.
